"In fourteen hundred and ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." Well it is Columbus Day here. How many of you remember that little poem? Some of the first history lessons we learn in school are about Christopher Columbus. It has been a long time ago but I still remember that his voyage was intended to find a quicker route to the Indies in order to more easily obtain spices, textiles and other consumables. The fear of the day was that the world was flat and that if you sailed too far toward the horizon that you would fall off the face of the Earth. Since those early days of school I've done some research myself. I have a little excerpt from the journal of Christopher Columbus that I want to share with you. " Your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians, and princes who love and promote the holy Christian faith, and are enemies of the doctrine of Mahomet, and of all idolatry and heresy, determined to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the above-mentioned countries of India, to see the said princes, people, and territories, and to learn their disposition and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith; and furthermore directed that I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary, but by a Westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto no certain evidence that any one has gone."
Sounds to me like his real purpose was to share and spread the Gospel with other countries. I would have to speculate that Columbus had also read or at least heard Isaiah 40:22 which begins, “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth…” (KJV). The NLT put it this way, “God sits above the circle of the earth…” The verse indicates that over 2000 years before Columbus set sail it was understood that the earth was a sphere. To a much larger extent today, we are being told and taught that we are not a Christian nation. On many points I would have to agree that we, as a nation, have tolerated many actions that do not follow the Word of God. In my message yesterday, from Matt. 16:13-17, we talked about Jesus’ question to Peter and to us, “Who do you say that I am?” We talked about how our actions often speak louder than our words in our response to the question. Let’s take it just a little farther. “Who do say that I am” in your marriage, in your business life, in your relationships with friends and relatives, in the raising of your children, in your civic duties, and in your commitment to your Church. Like Peter, we are quick to answer that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, but do your actions deny your declaration. In a politically correct and morally corrupt world can we still stand firm in our commitment to Christ? Yes! It will require that you study and accept God’s principles through His Word. It will require you to become active in living out the Gospel at work, at home, and in public. You will have to learn to stand up for Christ and stop supporting unchristian values and not lean on the Government and the ways of the world. You’ll have to be sure of your belief like Peter, and brave and committed like Christopher Columbus for the cause of advancing the Gospel. It can be done and you are the ones to do it. God bless you for all you do, Pastor Dean
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